(New) Unbelievably Cheap Points Hotels

Since I’ve now updated our Complete Maps, I decided to go through each chain and pick out the best deals.

The idea is that category 1 hotels can cost a fraction of the top tier hotels, and yet some are actually really nice or in great locations.

For example, you could get 19 nights at a category 1 Hilton for the price of 1 night at the top tier… and that’s before 5th night free. And still 9 nights of a category 2, which actually has decent hotels.

Generally, these are hotels I would actually want to visit because of the hotel and destination. Maybe I wouldn’t go back and spend a lot of time in Jakarta, but I seem to layover there a bit, so I included it.

IHG

Category 1 = 10,000 IHG points

Holiday Inn Express : Lisbon – Alfragide

Holiday Inn : Porto – Gaia

Holiday Inn : Lyon – Vaise

Holiday Inn : Skopje

Holiday Inn : Thessaloniki

Holiday Inn Express : Shanghai Putuo

Near the downtown Holiday Inn Skopje

Category 2 = 15,000 IHG points

Holiday Inn Express & Suites : Eugene Downtown – University

Holiday Inn Express : Quito ?

Holiday Inn Express & Suites : Medellin ?

Holiday Inn Express : Cape Town City Centre

Holiday Inn : Sandton – Rivonia Road (boring mall like area)

Holiday Inn : Mauritius Mon Tresor (at airport, but good if you rent a car)

SPG

Let me quick say that the Sheraton Dubrovnik for 3,000 SPG points (on weekends) is an amazing deal. Friends have said it’s awesome. The picture is from Bart.La – whom I got to see show it off on instagram/snapchat.

Category 1 = 2,000 – 3,000 SPG points

Le Méridien N’Fis – Marrakech, Morocco

All over India & China

Four Points by Sheraton Medellin

Sheraton Mustika Yogyakarta Resort & Spa

Category 2 = 3,000 – 4,000 SPG points

Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel (!)

Four Points by Sheraton Bolzano (?)

Sheraton Athlone Hotel

Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort, Thailand

Le Méridien Angkor, Cambonia

Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel

Sheraton Senggigi Beach Resort, Lombok

Sheraton Hanoi Hotel

Four Points by Sheraton Panoramahaus Dornbirn (?)

Le Méridien Chiang Rai Resort

Category 3 = 7,000 SPG points

Sheraton Fuerteventura Beach, Golf & Spa Resort

Sheraton Samoa Aggie Grey’s Resort

Hilton

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sighisoara – Cavaler

Category 1 = 5,000 Hilton HHonors points

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sighisoara – Cavaler

Hilton Alexandria Corniche

Hilton Salalah Resort

Category 2 = 10,000 Hilton HHonors points

Hampton by Hilton Bogota – Usaquen (?)

Hampton by Hilton Cluj-Napoca

Hilton Garden Inn Hanoi (?)

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Beijing

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur (HT: Howie)

Category 3 = 20,000 Hilton HHonors points

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Sukhumvit Bangkok

Hilton Garden Inn Sevilla

Category 4 = 20,000 – 30,000 Hilton HHonors points

Hilton Nairobi (?)

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Zanzibar – Stone Town

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Queenstown

Hyatt

Hyatt Regency Kathmandu

Category 1 = 5,000 Hyatt points

Hyatt Place Los Cabos

Hyatt Regency Kathmandu

Hyatt Regency Kolkata

Park Hyatt Chennai

Hyatt Regency Kinabalu

Category 2 = 8,000 Hyatt points

Park Hyatt Mendoza

Hyatt Regency Mumbai

Hyatt Place Yerevan (?)

Hyatt Regency Montreal

Hyatt Regency Osaka

Hyatt Regency Xi’an

Category 3 = 12,000 Hyatt points

Grand Hyatt Amman

Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin

Hyatt Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi

Hyatt Regency Tokyo

Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur

Marriott

Category 1 = 7,500 Marriott points

Courtyard Guayaquil

Protea hotels all over Africa!

Protea Hotel by Marriott Kruger Gate

Category 2 – 10,000 Marriott points

JW Marriott Absheron Baku

JW Marriott Hotel Medan (sometimes only $50)

Mulu Marriott Resort & Spa

Category 3 = 15,000 Marriott points

JW Marriott Hotel Beijing Central

Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel

JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu

JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi

JW Marriott Hotel Jakarta

JW Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel

Courtyard Gdynia Waterfront

Renaissance Santo Domingo Jaragua Hotel & Casino

JW Marriott Hotel Chengdu

Category 4 = 20,000 Marriott Points

Courtyard Hong Kong Sha Tin

Club Carlson

Category 2 = 15,000 Club Carlson points

Radisson Blu Resort, El Quseir

Park Inn by Radisson Meriton Conference & Spa Hotel Tallinn (?)

Park Inn By Radisson Berlin City-West (?)

Radisson Blu Beke Hotel, Budapest (crappy hotel, good location)

Radisson Blu Hotel Chennai City Centre (?)

Radisson Blu Haridwar (?)

Balcony at the Radisson Blu Resort, El Quseir:

Radisson Blu Resort, El Quseir

Map of low category hotels

(Menu is in the top left, click in the top right to make full-screen and click on brands):

I second the HR Danang. If you’re upgraded to a club room, with free breakfast, snacks, and happy hour which is enough for dinner, you don’t need to leave the property or pay for anything. And you’re on China Beach. The room was great too.

Would love to see the same map for people driving in the US. As in great value hotels for a road trip in the US. Currently, I need to click through all your chain maps when driving the family somewhere. Thanks.

You should really add the Hampton Inn Mexico City to the list of great value Category 2 Hiltons. It was $135 for when we were there last week, so 10,000 Hilton points is a great value. It’s a Hampton, so it’s not fancy, but it is in a historic building just two blocks from the Zocalo, so the location is fantastic. The seafood restaurant onsite is excellent and affordable.

Also, I noticed that you have the Grand Hyatt Amman on your list. I’m going to AMM in a week, and I’m staying at the Marriott, because 15,000 Marriott points seems like a lot less than 15,000 Hyatt points. What am I missing? Should I try to switch?

This past October I used 10,000 SPG points for 3 nights (thur-sun) at the Aloft Guadalajara. I felt like it was a great deal at a really decent property that is new and in an excellent part of the city.

Great list! JW Marriott in Hanoi is phenomenal with incredible breakfast, lounge and service, although it’s a bit far away from the city center. My cousin stayed at Garden Inn, which was very central and perfectly fine.

DT in Kuala Lumpur is a great central hotel for the price with excellent breakfast, 10-15 minutes on foot from the Towers, but I thought the lounge was so-so.

I stayed at a couple of these-
HI Suva- there is really not a lot to do in Suva, really only worth it if you have to stay overnight to catch a plane or ferry somewhere else. But nice property for sure. No beach.
HI Tbilisi- Sort of a weird location, I’d rather stay somewhere closer to Europe Square, prolly on the other side of the river.
HI Sandton- well, if you are going to be stranded in J’burg it’s not a terrible place. 2 blocks from the Gautrain and they upgrade to club for platinum. Make friends with the Qatar airlines pilots staying daily who get free SA wine and nothing better to do with themselves. The hotel itself is nice. Did you guys go on the tethered hot air balloon in the park nearby for $8? I did Also the shopping mall is not so bad at xmas, they had a circus and all sorts of music performances going on there.
Downtown Dubai is a great location, only issue to watch out for is nasty dudes ogling you from the building over if you decide to sunbathe by the roof pool.

Also a note about the HI Vanuatu- it was wrecked in Cyclone Pam, it was closed when I was there a good year and a half ago. Fingers crossed they did a nice renovation there. The people of Port Vila were lovely.

I stayed at Club Carlson in Frederick, MD for 15000 points. Free breakfast, upgraded to a large suite. It was a good deal IMO. I had some stuff to do in DC this place looked close on the map but it wasn’t really that close. The drive was pleasant, however. Fall foliage and all.

Marriott Resort Hotel Costa Rica at San Antonio Belen. Fantastic use of the 5 or 7 night certificate will have when you redeem Marriott Rewards points for the Nights and Flights package, plus if you use that option to get your Southwest Airlines Companion Pass in January you will also have plenty of points to fly to SJO as SWA flies there from Houston. The airport is modern and Uber is readily available to the hotel which is fantastic! I rented a car, but next time I won’t as traffic is horrendous. Tours leave directly from the hotel and uber is cheap compared to the “bargain” you will think you are on a rental car. ($36) for the week. SURPRISE: You must pay mandatory insurance which was an additional $300!! Don’t be thinking they will accept your credit card car rental insurance because they won’t.

Yeah, I thought it had changed. Just a personal opinion, but if I had the points to spare, I would stay elsewhere. We stayed there last June. It is okay and quite a steal for 10,000 points, but we wouldn’t stay there again at twice that. Okay, not great, if you are using the subway, horrible location if you are using a car.

The Hilton Colon in Quito, EC (and probably the one in Guayaquil as well) is in a great location and as far as I could tell was probably among the nicest in the city. Not bad for a Cat 4 and 20k points during my visit.

Great list and post! A nice hotel to add would be the Hyatt Regency Thessaloniki (saw you had the Holiday Inn one here). It just changed to category 2 this year and is a steal for value – especially compared to the Holiday Inn property here (really no comparison!).
Also, I really miss the old Le Meridien at the Dead Sea. Great value with SPG points!

Agreed on the Hyatt Regency Tokyo, good hotel in a good location in an expensive city. The standard rooms aren’t luxurious at all, but it’s a Regency.

I just stayed in the other JW Marriott in Beijing (cat 4) which is FANTASTIC. It was on sale for 15k per night, so same price as the Central on your list and from what I’ve read the location is better. That’s a great hotel.

Just stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort : Phuket Mai Khao Beach – it was a great value. As Drew mentioned, it is north of the airport, away from the busy parts of Phuket. As a Platinum member, I was ungraded to a third floor two room suite with two balconies overlooking the pool and ocean. There just outside of the hotel there are several local restaurants, as well as massages and a laundry service which were well below the prices charges at the property. Great place to spend a few quiet days.

Recently stayed at JW Marriott Pune for 10k points, and Conrad Pune for 30k points. Both great deals. Also Kochi Marriott (now 10k points). Did three nights at Park Hyatt Chennai. And two nights at Intercontinental Mumbai for 25k points.

Thanks for the list! I know I will use it. Thought I would comment that the Park Inn Meriton in Tallinn is in a wonderful location, but is huge and is worn. We stayed on points early part of June 2016 so maybe they gave us one of the older rooms. It had a sauna in it!!! But the room was tired, as were the hallways and lobby. It is a strange place and has a weird conglomeration of restaurants. Price and location were great though!

Hangzhou is one of my favorite cities in China. We liked it better than Suzhou for sightseeing and restaurants.

Stayed at a Cat 1 Four Points Sheraton there in 2013, with exemplary (IMO) service and quite nice rooms. Downside is that it’s in the business district (BinJiang) on the South side of the river, and most of the attractions are on the North side, necessitating a taxi ride in the 30 or 40 yuan range (like USD $7 or $8), in a town somewhat short on taxis.

We have spent the majority of our marriage traveling full time, living out of hotels.
All the while, we list our expenses publicly, budgeting $25,000 a year for our nomadic life while still staying in mostly 4 or 5 star hotels across ~20 countries a year.
Go to About Me to learn more.